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Mitsubishi Exits Mass-Market Consumer TV Biz
The company is ceasing production of consumer televisions smaller than 65 inches, and blending its residential and commercial display businesses into a new entity called Mitsubishi Electric Visual Solutions America Inc. (MEVSA).
That means the end of the company’s Unisen edge-lit LED TVs with immersive sound technology, although a spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. Mitsubishi announced in March of this year that it would end its LCD HDTV business to focus on larger-screen displays.
Operating out Mitsubishi’s U.S. headquarters in Irvine, Calif., MEVSA is "acquiring certain manufacturing, sales and marketing activities of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc.," the erstwhile consumer-display business unit of Mitsubishi.
With that, Mitsubishi will be paring its residential dealer base.
"Given we have a smaller product line, we’ll be concentrating our sales efforts through a few large accounts and a few distributors," Mitsubishi spokesperson Mark Scott tells CE Pro. "With 73 inches as our ‘smallest size,’ our customer base is quite focused. We certainly believe there opportunity to grow our business via large screen display devices."
According to the press release:
Mitsubishi Electric Visual Solutions America will sell a line of professional visual systems products including 3D and 2D home theater front projectors, data wall display systems, projectors, LCD digital signage monitors, and professional industrial and photo printers. The new company will also manufacture and sell large-screen 3D DLP Home Cinema televisions and large-screen 3D LaserVue televisions in sizes 73 inches and above for the consumer marketplace. Mitsubishi Electric has withdrawn from the 65-inch and smaller categories of consumer television products in North America.
MEVSA launches officially on June 1, 2011. The new Website http://www.MEVSA.com currently is redirected to Mitsubishi’s consumer TV site.
CE Pro will keep you posted.
Read press release.
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6 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
“horrible in every way”
Geoff, Were you looking at them upside down? They couldn’t compete in the flat screen market because they came too late to the game, and flat screen R&D just wasn’t their thing, but in the really big screen market, a Mits DLP is a very good argument. Much more size for the dollar, and they look good in the right circumstances.
They looked good if you were Mr. Magoo
I suppose… In all the years I have been doing AV (almost 30) Mitsubishi has never made a good product, just a big one. And the old addage about “bigger not better” sticks in my mind for them. Why make a flat screen product that can never compete with the rest of the market? Its the same thing I have seen from other manufacturers, they either use someone elses unit that’s been doctored (like a lexicon BD player that’s an oppo for 4 times the money) or they come up with a sub-standard product just to please dealers who scream for something that they are just not good at making (or engineering).
Wow, what about their CRT RPTV? The best picture on the planet and maybe still is? I still have my 65711, ISFed twice and it’s still beautiful to behold. A very film like picture, not one that looks like it was filmed under florescent lights. My only regret is that I didn’t get a 73711…perfect size.
I had one of the first 55-inch Mits RPTVs,acquired around 1997. It was still working great when I gave it away 10 years later (replaced with 65-inch Mitsh DLP).
For 20 years, Mitsubishi was all hype. Everyone that carried the product promoted its quality, but their products were the first to malfunction and very expensive to fix. Dealers made a lot of money on service which made them happy, but the consumer wasn’t. The products will not be missed.
It’s about time this stuff went away, this product was absolutely horrible in every way. The only good thing about a down economy is the end of product lines which should never have lasted as long as they did, like Colorado Vnet and Mitsubishi flat panels. What will “Paul the king of big screens” do now?